Foreign and Commonwealth Office

THE GOVERNMENT HOSPITALITY WINE CELLAR  ANNUAL REPORT 2016-17

lord ahmad of wimbledon: My right Honourable Friend, the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Sir Alan Duncan), has made the following written Ministerial statement:I have today placed a copy of the Government Hospitality Wine Cellar Annual Report for the Financial Year 2016-17 in the Libraries of both Houses.Following the outcome of the review of the Government Hospitality Wine Cellar in 2011, this sixth Annual Report or Statement continues our commitment to annual reports to Parliament on the use of the Wine Cellar, covering consumption, stock purchases, costs, and value for money. The wine cellar has been self-funding since 2011/12, through the sale of some high-value stock and payments made by other Government departments for events organised by Government Hospitality.The report notes that:Consumption by volume fell by 12% in FY 2016/17 due to fewer Government events, particularly during the EU Referendum period.Sales of stock amounted to £40,800 (cf. £40,390 in FY 15/16);Further funds from other government departments added £16,234 to the overall receipts (cf. £15,848 in 15/16);Purchases amounted to £45,042, an increase of 12% by value cf. £40,177 in 15/16;The highest volume of purchases was of English wines at 49% of the total;The highest consumption level by volume was again of English and Welsh wine, at 52% of the total (cf. 44% in 15/16).

Department for International Trade

Correction to Lords Written Answer

baroness sugg: I write to update the Lord Price CVO’s response to Lord Adonis’s Parliamentary Question of 12 July 2017 (HL747).In our response on 27 July 2017, we provided a figure of £1.15m. We have now updated this to include a broader range of recruitment activity including advertising overseas posts and costs for senior posts including the Department’s Permanent Secretary and Second Permanent Secretary.Once added, these additional recruitment costs bring the amount to £1.445m.